Vacuum cleaners have enjoyed significant popularity over the years. There are numerous of types of vacuum cleaners, sizes of vacuum cleaners, and manufacturers of vacuum cleaners. In a retail environment, a consumer interested in purchasing or renting a vacuum cleaner can be presented with a variety of vacuum cleaner options and it can be difficult for the consumer to evaluate the different options. This can result in a gap between the customer's perception of the performance of each vacuum cleaner while in the store and the actual performance they experience once they get the selected vacuum cleaner home and try it out. Without the ability to tangibly experience the performance of the vacuum cleaners in a store or other retail environment, consumers often lack significant confidence in their purchase decision.
The performance of a vacuum cleaner is complicated, involving many variables, and can be measured in many different ways. The two primary factors that characterize the real-world performance of a vacuum cleaner are suction power (generally measured in “inches of water”) and air flow (generally measured in cubic feet per minute (cfm)). A unit of measure called “air watts” is sometimes used to represent the combined “cleaning power” of these two factors:Air watts=(suction (inches of water lift))×(airflow (cfm))/8.5with the factor 8.5 being a conversion factor for calculations in English units. While quantitative measures exist to evaluate cleaning effectiveness, such approaches may not be practical in retail settings for a variety of reasons (e.g., cost, lack of familiarity among purchasers/renters, etc.).
In general, it would be advantageous to have improved indicators, systems, and methods for evaluating the cleaning effectiveness of vacuum cleaners. In particular, it would be advantageous to have indicators, systems, and methods for evaluating the cleaning effectiveness of vacuum cleaners in a retail environment to assist purchasers or renters of vacuum cleaners in comparing different vacuum cleaners.